Nineteen
by Ironic Crayon
Summary: Rose Tyler was nineteen years old when she looked into the Heart of the TARDIS, and she would have to deal with the consequences for the rest of her life.


**Nineteen**

Rose Tyler was nineteen years old when her life changed. That was when she met the Doctor.

(Her Doctor)

Rose was nineteen when he asked her to travel through space with him and nineteen when she refused. She was nineteen when the (her) Doctor gave her a second chance. She accepted.

(Did I mention it travels through Time?)

Rose Tyler was nineteen years old when she visited Platform 1 in the year 5.5/Apple/26 and watched her planet – her home – burn. (He later explained why. On some level, she could understand his pain.)

She was nineteen when she met Charles Dickens surrounded by, of all things, ghosts. (Actually, they were a gaseous alien race bent on taking the Earth as their own and wiping out humanity – a normal day with the Doctor)

(But, at least she looked beautiful, for a human)

When the Slitheen Family attempted to obliterate the Earth (for a profit, no less), she was nineteen. (Though she should-could-would have been twenty) Humanity should have learned and accepted the truth about aliens then, but it was blown off as a hoax; a prank – anything but the Truth. At least her mother knew. (They missed a year of her life, but seeing the look on the (her) Doctor's face as he was slapped by an infuriated Jackie Tyler was worth it.)

(And he says he doesn't do domestic.)

Rose Tyler was nineteen when she and the (her) Doctor visited a private alien artifact museum. She was nineteen when she touched the (not) last Dalek in Existence inadvertently giving it Time and, through that, Life. Rose was nineteen when said Dalek went on a rampage through the sub-levels of the museum-prison-laboratory and the same age when she, while attempting to escape, was too slow/not fast enough.

(You'd think she would be faster, they do an awful lot of running together)

She was nineteen when she should-would have been killed (but she wasn't) and was used as a hostage-peacekeeper. When Rose saw the not-monster Dalek embrace the warmth of the sunlight and saw the (her) Doctor point a gun in her direction she was nineteen.

(Who's the real monster?)

The Doctor, the epitome of pacifism, had a gun. And she was staring down the barrel between weapon and target. The Doctor (for he could hardly be _her_ Doctor) was torn. Rose was nineteen when the Dalek wished-demanded permission to die, nineteen when the (her) Doctor came back to his senses with not only understanding, but empathy for the (not really) abomination. Rose was nineteen when they left Utah with Adam, leaving destruction in their wake.

(Didn't they always?)

Rose was nineteen when they took Adam to Satellite 5. (What a mistake.) She was nineteen years old and she never thought their time spent on Satellite 5 (their time spent anywhere, anytime) would affect their Future.

(After all, they had a TARDIS – that's Time And Relative Dimensions In Space)

Rose Tyler was nineteen years old when she saved her father's life. Unfortunately, Time wasn't as fond of the idea as she, so the Reapers descended.

(Her first war waged against Time – she lost)

She was nineteen when she held her father (who was and wasn't what she expected) while he died the same way as before, but different. Rose Tyler almost destroyed the Universe, but, somehow, it was worth it.

(Somehow, the (her) Doctor thinks so too.)

Rose was nineteen when she met Captain Jack Harkness, a time agent, during World War II. Dancing atop Big Ben in the Moonlight was so romantic (there was even champagne).

(If only _he_ would dance with her)

She was nineteen when she, trapped in a hospital basement, argued with the (her) Doctor about (of all things) dancing.

(900 years and he doesn't dance.)

Rose was nineteen when Volcano Day arrived and Captain Jack fled. She was nineteen when nano-genes tried to fix our flawed world and failed. She was nineteen when they looked to Nancy, the dominant gene; the mother and restored the flawed to their imperfect human selves.

(Bomb's away)

Rose was nineteen years old when Jack Harkness, the same con man who never stuck around for Volcano Day, arrived in his ship nanoseconds before the bomb hit. (She knew he was made of better stuff.) She was nineteen when they saved Jack from the same bomb.

(For once, everybody lived)

She was nineteen when the (her) Doctor remembered how to dance. Then again, he can hardly remember something he never forgot, can he?

(After all, Life is just one long Dance)

Rose was nineteen when the (her) Doctor and Jack decided her life was more important than the Earth and the seven billion people that resided on it. (A stupid decision, really.) She had learned throughout her travels that if it came to a choice between saving her life or the Universe – and more importantly, the (her) Doctor's life – she should-could-would never save herself. How could she? The Universe needed the (her) Doctor.

(But her Doctor needed his Rose.)

She was nineteen when her eyelids became rutilant as a Song resounded through her body, mind and soul. A Song that, she realized was Ancient, as old as Time. Hidden throughout Forever, a Song that burned in the core of Eternity. The Song of the Universe. And it would come to call upon her soon.

(Why was it so sad?)

Rose Tyler was nineteen years old when the Doctor tricked her into the TARDIS and sent her home to safety. She was nineteen when she decided being safe was overrated. She was nineteen when she stubbornly decided she was going to get back to the (her) Doctor and tore open the TARDIS console.

Rose was nineteen years old when she looked into the heart of the TARDIS and consumed the Time Vortex. Nineteen when she appeared, bathed in golden light on Satellite 5. When she proclaimed (in a voice that was and wasn't her's) that she was the Bad Wolf, she created herself. She was nineteen when she broke the Dalek fleet and their Emperor down to their atoms with a wave of her hand. Nineteen when the (her) Doctor begged her to stop. Nineteen when she brought Life back into Jack (for Eternity, or close to).

She was nineteen when she told the (her) Doctor that her head was hurting. (Not from the Time Vortex burning her, but knowing sometimes and no-times, any-times and could-be-times.) Rose was nineteen when her Doctor kissed her soundly, absorbing the Time Vortex and releasing it to the TARDIS. She was nineteen when she fell, unconscious-asleep into her Doctor's open arms.

Rose Marion Tyler was nineteen when she became the Heart of the TARDIS, the Bad Wolf, the Golden Goddess of Time. And she stayed nineteen for the rest of Eternity.

(His Rose)


End file.
